If you didn’t know when you were born, how old would you be?

Now there’s a question that can change the way you perceive the whole idea of age and aging.

After all, what is age?

It’s really just a number, even though we have been conditioned into “believing” that it dictates everything from when we start to go downhill in terms of our health to, in many cases, when we feel as though we are of no value to society.

Broadway actress, Billie Burke, remarked, “Age only matters if one is a cheese.”

When you come right down to it, most of what your life is comprised of has little or nothing to do with your age. Your health, creativity, talent, mind and your ability to continue to make a significant contribution to society is not determined by your age but rather your attitudes and beliefs.

While some physical abilities do slow with age even these are being challenged as we learned when swimmer Dara Torres at age 41 won three silver medals at the Beijing Olympics. While it’s unlikely she’ll be in swimming competitions at 70 or 80, she can still make a contribution to her chosen field as a coach or trainer. By the way. her new book, Age is Just a Number, was just published.

I love her attitude. In the book, she says, “The water doesn’t know how old you are.”

Martha Graham, considered to be one of the foremost pioneers of modern dance, choreographed until her death at age 96.

What about you?

What are your beliefs about aging?

Since my new book, Don’t Let an Old Person Move Into Your Body, (due in June), is about making the rest of your life the best of your life, I will be writing more about this going forward.

In the meantime, I urge you to re-examine your own attitudes and beliefs about aging. It’s a biological fact that we are all aging, however, getting old is optional and, in my opinion, a state of mind. You can choose not to let an old person move into your body, regardless of your present age.

Pretend you do not know when you were born.How would you act?
What would you do?